Sufferers of breast cancer will be told whether they need chemotherapy by a
new genetic test which could help to save lives while sparing many women
gruelling treatment they do not need.

The test has proved to be more accurate than existing methods of predicting
whether a woman’s cancer is likely to return after surgery, allowing
patients to make more informed choices about their future treatment.

About 50,000 women a year are told they have breast cancer, and 80 per cent of
them have a type known as oestrogen receptor positive. Such women are
usually offered surgery and hormone treatment